Intimate Partner Violence in the Public Sphere: African American Single Mothers in Child Paternity Disputes

• In Event: Understanding Intimate Partner Violence: New Perspectives

Abstract

In the United States (U.S), there are high levels of father absence, female-headed single-parent households, and intimate partner violence (IPV) in the African American community. While the relationship between single motherhood and father absence is yet to be showcased in studies of IPV against African American women, its relevance has been evident in the public sphere through the Maury Show, a U.S daytime television talk show on paternity disputes. Drawing on findings from a content analysis of a sample of episodes of Maury, this paper presents paternity disputes as a salient context within which African American single mothers can experience nonphysical IPV in the form of psychological/emotional, and economic abuse. The paternity disputes shown on Maury unveil how patriarchal ideologies and stereotypes of African American women are reproduced to subject African American single mothers to psychological/emotional and economic IPV. Findings from the qualitative study point to the need for stakeholders in IPV to prioritize the education of women, particularly single mothers, on the various sites (private and public), contexts and dynamics of nonphysical IPV.

Author

• Anita Kalunta-Crumpton, Texas Southern University